State files suit, levies fines over burned medical records

The state filed a lawsuit Wednesday and levied fines of $1 million against the owner of a Salem Township property where huge piles of burning medical records were found in August.

The seven-count complaint, filed by Attorney General Mike Cox for the state Department of Community Health, cites Dr. Soon K. Kim and his companies - Quality Health Plan and Signature Healthcare Services Inc. - for burning piles of records, some as large as a van, in violation of the public health code and privacy laws. Also named in as a co-defendant in the lawsuit was Dong Won (David) Kim.

The fines were imposed by the state Department of Community Health against Kim and Quality Health Plan for the improper disposal of health records.

The 415-acre property, at 6646 Six Mile Road, belongs to Soon Kim. He owned the bankrupt Greater Detroit Hospital, also known as North Detroit General Hospital.
Officials said the records contained patient medical information, x-rays, and Social Security numbers.

Kim and his attorney, Laura Sanders, could be reached for comment Wednesday. Kim has had a medical license as a psychiatrist in Michigan since 1973.

The suit alleges that on Aug. 29, David Kim was burning at least three large bonfires on the Salem Township property, and told police that Sanders told him to do it. The suit said David Kim had been dumping and burning on the Salem Township property since October or November 2006.

Some of the records, according to the suit, were blowing onto other properties.

The state is seeking a preliminary injunction against burning any other medical records, and an order asking for the address and owner of all locations from which the records were taken. The state also wants information about who created the records, how many were destroyed, how far back the records went, and a description of what was destroyed.

The lawsuit asks that Kim be ordered to hire a reputable disposal company to destroy the records, and to allow the Department of Environmental Quality to determine whether the site was contaminated by burning the x-rays.

A criminal investigation into the burning, which is illegal under both privacy and toxic waste laws, remains open, officials said.